Great counting book~ sequal to Chicka, Chicka, Boom Boom. Also teaches place value-- with a twist of adventure and fun.

In 1980 Sampson accepted a faculty position at Texas A&M University--Commerce. In 1986 he published his first professional book, The Pursuit of Literacy. Four years later he published the creative, theme based literature program Experiences with Literacy, which was co-authored by Bill Teale and Roach Van Allen. In 1992, Holt, Rinehart and Winston published his book on the language arts, Pathways to Literacy. The second edition of Pathways to Literacy: Process Transactions was published in 1996; the third edition, Total Literacy, was published in 2003.

The 1990's saw Sampson move into the children's market as an author. By 2005, he had 29 children's books published. His books Caddie the Golf Dog and Trick or Treat are favorites of children. Many of his books are written from experiences, like The Football That Won and Star of the Circus, which was written after watching his son's kindergarten circus. Swish, co-authored with Bill Martin Jr., quickly became a must read for young girls.

He attended and graduated from East Texas State University, where he majored in political science and received his elementary teaching certificate. After graduation, Sampson taught Kindergarten through sixth grades, and received much press coverage for his innovative stances toward teaching

Sampson continued his education at The University of Arizona, where he worked under Dr. Roach Van Allen and Dr. Kenneth Goodman, as he earned a Ph.D. in Reading. During that time, in 1977, he met and established a lifelong friendship and professional relationship with a new mentor and colleague, children's author Bill Martin JR.

Michael's other books with Bill Martin include a fun, rollicking number book called Rock It, Sock It, Number Line!; a classic bedtime story The Little Squeegy Bug; the football comedy--Little Granny Quarterback, and the Halloween treat Trick or Treat? Their best seller Chicka, Chicka, 1...2....3 named as Parenting Magazine book of the year in 2004. A new version of Chicken Chuck was released in 2005. In 2006, Bill and Michael's I Love This Earth came out. This was followed in 2009 by two books--Kitty Cat, Kitty Cat, Are You Waking Up? and The Bill Martin Jr Big Book of Poetry. Two more Kitty Cat books followed in 2011 and 2013. His newest books, Listen to the World and Spunky Little Monkey, will be published in 2016. Sampson is currently working on a book about the life of Bill Martin Jr.

After teaching three years at the University of South Florida St. Petersburg, Sampson became Dean of the School of Education at Southern Connecticut State University in August 2010. In 2012, Sampson moved to Arizona, where he served as Dean of the College of Education at Northern Arizona University. Sampson became dean of the School of Educaton at St. John's Univeristy in New York City in the summer of 2014. In addition to his leadership role there, Sampson continues to do author visits and teacher in-services across the nation and the world.